3 TIMES 3DSENSATION

Since the end of last year our Institute has three new junior research groups within the innovation alliance 3Dsensation, which is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and consists of industry partners and research institutions from different branches of science. This consortium fosters interdisciplinary research and development work with the aim to tackle central technical, sociological and ethical challenges of man-machine interaction.
Dr. Martin Steglich is the head of the group "Eye-safe 3D metrology in the SWIR", who seeks to establish a high-performant 3D metrology working in the Short-Wavelength Infrared (SWIR), particularly at around 1450 nm to prevent hazard potential for human eye´s blindness.
A major requirement for eye-safe metrology systems is the availability of cost-efficient SWIR sensors. For that, one major focus of our work is the development of CMOS capable Germanium-on-Silicon (Ge-on-Si) sensors for normal incidence and maximization of their optical responsivity by means of diffractive light-trapping structures.
Stefan Heist leads the project "High-speed 3D sensors in extended spectral ranges", in which a solution for the capturing of so-called "uncooperative objects" has to be developed. These objects have e.g. reflecting or deep-black surfaces and transparent or translucent materials, so that they are to be measured by means of further interaction mechanisms than by diffuse reflection; for example via absorption or heating. This can be done by exploiting wavelength ranges in which the objects have deviating properties. In order to exploit these spectral regions, completely new wavelength-independent high-speed projection techniques have to be developed and new interaction mechanisms have to be investigated. In this way, the new research aims to find a solution for the problem that hasn´t been solved for more than 20 years in 3D sensor technology.
The junior research group "3Dtransform - Transformation optics for multi-dimensional detection" under Dr. Frank Setzpfandt aims at expanding the functionality of cost-effective and widely distributed standard camera systems based on highly developed two-dimensional silicon CCD or CMOS sensors by using specifically designed optics. In order to achieve this, optical elements and imaging methods based on nanostructured surfaces are to be developed. These optics are intended to be used instead of ordinary lenses and extend the possibilities of optical signal acquisition with standard monocular camera systems in such a way that a comprehensive digital reconstruction of observed objects is achievable. In addition to the three-dimensional spatial information, the object properties to be measured also can include surface texture, chemical composition or temperature.